At Zeng Guofan's initiative, he built the first ship in China, founded the first ordnance school, printed and translated the first batch of western language books, and arranged the first batch of students studying in the United States. It can be said that Zeng Guofan was the pioneer of China's modernization. Zeng Guofan's early life experience was November 11th in the 16th year of Jiaqing (181year 65438+ February 26th). Zeng Guofan was born in Baiyangping, Heyetang, Hunan Province (now Daping Village, Ye He Town, Shuangfeng County, Loudi City, Hunan Province). There are nine brothers and sisters, Zeng Guofan is the eldest son. Ancestors mainly worked in agriculture and lived a relatively well-off life. Grandpa Zeng Yuping has not received much education, but he has rich experience; Father Zeng Linshu is a scholar, and Zeng Guofan, the eldest son and grandson, was naturally educated by two ancestors. Zeng Guofan was enlightened at the age of five and entered his family school at the age of six. In the spring of the sixth year of Daoguang (1826), he was ranked seventh in Changsha Boy's Test. In the tenth year of Daoguang (1830), he went to Tangjiatang in Hengyang to study, and one year later he transferred to Lianbin College in Xiangxiang. In the 12th year of Daoguang (1832), Zeng Guofan was admitted to Jinshi. In the 14th year of Daoguang (1834), Zeng Guofan entered Yuelu Academy in Changsha for exercise. In the same year, I took the Hunan Provincial Examination, got the 36th place as a pilot, and left for Beijing to prepare for the next year's examination. In the fifteenth year of Daoguang (1835), Zeng Guofan failed in the exam and lived in Changsha Guild Hall in Beijing to study. The following year, Cohen returned to Changsha and lived in Hunan assembly hall with fellow villagers Liu Rong and Guo Songtao. In the eighteenth year of Daoguang (1838), Zeng Guofan took the exam again and finally succeeded with the first place. Gong Kao ranked 42nd among the top three and was endowed with a scholar background. From then on, Zeng Guofan introduced himself, stepped onto the road of official career, and became Zhang Mu's favorite pupil.
In the imperial examination, he ranked first and third, and Daoguang Emperor personally selected him as the second, and was elected as Jishi Shu of imperial academy. In the twenty years of Daoguang (1840), he was awarded a review by the Hanlin Academy. In July of the 23rd year of Daoguang (1843), Qin entered Sichuan after having obtained the provincial examination and was appointed as the main examiner. In August, he was allowed to give lectures at Hanlin College. 65438+ February, Chongwen Yuanguan was proofread. Twenty-four years after Daoguang (1844), I switched to other schools. In March of the 25th year of Daoguang (1845), he served as an examiner. In May, it was promoted to Youchunfang, the official residence of Zhan. In September, he transferred to Zuo Shu University, and soon he was promoted to a bachelor's degree. 65438+February, I talked about the competent officials. In the 26th year of Daoguang (1846), he was in charge of Wen Yuan Pavilion. In the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang (1847), he won the second place in the final exam. In June, he was promoted to Bachelor of Cabinet and Assistant Minister of Ritual. In the twenty-eighth year of Daoguang (1848), he inspected Chinese book affairs. In the twenty-ninth year of Daoguang (1849), he was the right assistant minister of the ceremony department. In August, the ministry of war left assistant minister. In June of the following year, Zuo served as Assistant Minister of Industry and Information Technology. During his more than ten years in Beijing, Zeng Guofan persevered along this road of official career and was promoted to the second-class office step by step. Seven strokes in ten years, ten steps in a row. In the first year of Xianfeng (185 1 year), Hong Xiuquan organized an uprising in Jintian Village, Guiping, Guangxi. Emperor Xianfeng wrote a letter to the ministers, telling the gains and losses. Zeng Guofan suggested that "the top priority today is to choose people" and recommended five people: Li Sanjie, Wu Tingdong, Wang Qingyun, Yan Yanji and Jiang Zhongyuan. Then he wrote a book "To Chen Shengde's Three Ends to Prevent Abuse", pointing to the fault of Emperor Xianfeng. Emperor Xianfeng "fell to the ground in a rage" and reread it a few days later, only to be persuaded and praised for being adjustable.
In May, assistant minister of right punishments. June, 5438+00, examiner of Shuntian Wuxiang. In the second year of Xianfeng (1852), he served as the left assistant minister of the official department. In June, he was admitted to Jiangxi and was on his way home because of his mother's funeral. At this time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement has swept half of China. Although the Qing government mobilized a large number of green camp officers and men with the Eight Banners from all over the country to deal with the Taiping Army, this decadent armed force was already vulnerable to a war. Therefore, the Qing * * * repeatedly issued the order of offering a reward for eternity, trying to use the landlord forces around him to curb the development of the forces of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which provided an opportunity for the emergence of Zeng Guofan's Xiang Army. 165438+ 10, Qing * * * ordered Zeng Guofan and Hunan Governor Zhang to handle it. In the third year of Xianfeng (1853), when the Qing Dynasty was eager to seek opportunities to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he built a place called Xiang Yong Yingyong in his hometown in Hunan Province, relying on complicated interpersonal relationships such as mentoring, relatives and friends. The Qing court wrote to requisition Taqibu, which was then the capital. In August, Zeng Guofan was allowed to train in Hengzhou. "All the modes of guns, knives and anchors, and the position of sails and paddles are self-tests, which exhausted their thinking." Moreover, they sent people to Guangdong to buy western cannons and build a navy. During his stay in Yingyong, Xiang Yong, he was strict in military discipline and established a new army. He divided his 5,000 people into ten battalions, such as Ta, Luo, Wang and Li, and moved his territory from Changsha to Xiangtan, so as to avoid confrontation with green camp in Changsha. In February, when China suppressed Xianfeng for four years (1854), Xiang troops were sent among people, and Zeng Guofan published "Begging the Guangdong Bandits 4".
In this essay, he claimed that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement was a "poisonous creature" and "cited China's etiquette and ethics for thousands of years, once it was swept away. This is not only a strange change in the Qing dynasty, but also a strange change in Ming religion since the opening of the port. Confucius and Mencius wept bitterly in Jiuquan, and then called for "anyone who can read and write can sit still", standing at the commanding heights of morality, so they mobilized the broad masses of intellectuals at that time to participate in the struggle against the Taiping Army, laying a solid foundation for future victory. Zeng Guofan appointed Chu Ruhang as the commander-in-chief of the water army, Taqibu as the army Xianfeng, with 240 large and small ships and amphibious troops 17000 people. In March, the war in Yuezhou was unfavorable. In April, it was defeated by Shi Xiangzhen, the Taiping Army, in the Jinggang water war. Zeng Guofan jumped into the water in a fit of pique, but fortunately he was saved by Zhang Shoulin, the chief of staff. Zeng Guofan was dismissed by decree because of the unfavorable war. At this point, Taqibu and garrison Yang Zaifu and magistrate Peng Yulin led the army to conquer Xiangtan. On July 25, after reorganizing the land and water armies, Zeng Guofan set out to capture Yuezhou, killed Zeng Tianyang, the Taiping Army, conquered Chenglingji, and won three awards for his work. 65438+1October 65438+April, Wuchang and Hanyang were selected, and they were awarded two top hats for their meritorious service. They were appointed as the Governor of Hubei Province and awarded to Hualing. Because Zeng Guofan strongly refused, he was awarded the title of assistant minister of the Ministry of War. On February 2, 65438, Zeng Guofan captured Tianjia Town, killed tens of thousands of enemies, burned 5,000 ships and entered Jiujiang. Zeng Guofan was rewarded with a yellow jacket because of his good scheduling. In the fifth year of Xianfeng (1855), on the night of February 12, Shi Dakai attacked the Hukou Water Camp of Xiang Army and burned more than 0/00 warships of Xiang Army.
Zeng Guofan was saved from jumping off the boat and the boat was taken away. "All the documents and books are lost." Zeng Guofan was so angry that he planned to ride a horse to die, but both Liu and he advised him to stop. Zeng Guofan sent Li, Hu Linyi to support Wuchang, and he went to Jiangxi to recruit and build ships. In July, Taqibu died in the military camp, and Zeng Guofan rushed to Jiujiang to command the army. In August, take back the account. In September, he was awarded the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War. In the sixth year of Xianfeng (1856), Shi Dakai attacked Jiangxi and Zeng Guofan was trapped in Nanchang. At this point, Luo Zenan died in the barracks, and Peng Yulin rushed to Nanchang to help defend. On September 2, Hong Xiuquan clashed with Yang, known as Tianjing Incident, and Nanchang was cleared. In June 5438+10, Zeng Guofan set up a auspicious word camp in Changmuyong to help Jiangxi. In the seventh year of Xianfeng (1857), his father died on February 20th, and Zeng Guofan's brother Ceng Guohua returned to China to attend the funeral. In July, I went to Shanghai twice and sought the final system at home, which was approved by Emperor Xianfeng. That year, the Yun Si Pavilion was completed. In the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858), in May 19, Li and Yang led the land and water army to capture Jiujiang. /kloc-in July of 0/3, Zeng Guofan was ordered by Xianfeng to run Zhejiang military affairs to save Fujian. 12, write "Love Folk Songs" to train Xiang Army. In the ninth year of Xianfeng (1859) and 165438+ October, Zeng Guofan planned a four-way invasion. Zeng Guofan captured Anqing, Duo Long A and Bao Chao captured Tongcheng, Hu Linyi captured Shucheng, and Li Xuyi captured Luzhou. In February of the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), Zeng Guofan broke Chen Yucheng in Taihu Lake. He Guiqing, governor of the two rivers, abandoned Changzhou and went to Shanghai, which led to the fall of Changzhou, Suzhou.
In April, the Qing court ordered Zeng Guofan to rush to Jiangsu immediately, and first awarded the title of Minister of War as the Governor of Liangjiang. In June, the Governor of Liangjiang was awarded an imperial envoy to supervise the military affairs in the south of the Yangtze River. In July, military affairs in southern Anhui was supervised by Zeng Guofan. On September 5th, 11th year of Xianfeng in Nanjing (186 1), the Xiang army captured Anqing. On September 25th, Zeng Guofan moved to Anqing. On February 20, 65438, he was given the title of Prince Taibao and was appointed to supervise the military affairs of four provinces (Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangxi). The governor and the town below him are under control. In the same month, the Institute of Internal Military Machinery was established in Anqing. At the end of the year, the Third Route Army was determined to March: "The country of Jinling was besieged, and Zhejiang 6 belonged to the left, and Su 6 belonged to Li Hongzhang, so the bureau of the southeast was set up." In the first year of Tongzhi (1862), 65438+1October 3 1, Zeng Guofan was appointed as a college assistant to the governor of Liangjiang, and Ceng Guoquan was awarded as a provincial judge in Zhejiang. On February 14th, Zuo led an army from Jiangxi to Zhejiang. In April, Li Hongzhang led an army to Shanghai. In May, Ceng Guoquan led the army into Yuhuatai, and joined Peng Yulin Navy to camp in Tianjing. In June, Hong Xiuquan ordered the Taiping rebels to return to Tianjing. Taiping Army assembled 200,000 troops and fought with Xiang Army for more than 40 days in 10, but failed to win. In the first month of Tongzhi three years (1864), Zhongshan was conquered and Tianjing was besieged. In July, the Xiang army attacked Tianjing and massacred and plundered innocent civilians. At that time, Nanjing was burned down, killing and injuring countless civilians. Zeng Guofan profile, Nanjing people call Zeng Guofan and Ceng Guoquan brothers "Zeng Sha Tou" and "Zeng Hu Tu". In the same month, the court added Zeng Guofan's Prince Taibao and the first-class Marquis, changed them into hereditary ones, and rewarded the eyes with Hualing.
In August, it was decided to abolish 25,000 Xiang troops. In the fourth year of Tongzhi (1865), on June 5438+0, 17, since the Han and Tang Dynasties, ministers played songs and compiled Ming Yuan Tang Paper. In March, he presided over the two houses of planting mountains and respecting classics. Adopt 800 lonely and cold children and donate their own class prize for raising Lian Yin. On May 26th, Zeng Guofan led an army to Shandong to suppress twisting. In June, he presided over the arrangement of Wang Chuanshan's letters, totaling 320 volumes, and submitted them to Jinling Bookstore for publication. On June 18, the strategy of the northern Nian suppression army was to fortify the important towns, delimit the river circle, clear the fields and check the Wei, and the cavalry followed. In September, I arrived in Xuzhou via Yangzhou and Qingjiangpu. Deploy troops all the way, block all the way, and post the list of recruits all the way. In June+10, 5438, Jinling manufacturing bureau moved to Hongkou, merged with Li Hongzhang's original artillery bureau and the iron works purchased from Americans, and together with more than 100 machines bought back by Rong Hong, Jiangnan manufacturing general bureau was built. In February 65438, the permanent constitution and operational rules of the Yangtze River Navy were approved. In the fifth year of Tongzhi (1866), Zeng Guofan was ordered to be stationed in Zhoujiakou, where he was an imperial minister and supervised the suppression of twisting. Zeng Guofan took the countermeasures of "focusing on defense, clearing the field and rowing the river circle" according to the characteristics of the uncertain whereabouts and mobile operations of the Nian army, but all ended in failure. Later, the "Shahe Baili Defense Line" from Zhoukou West to Luohe was established, hoping to take this natural barrier to eliminate the Nian Army. In March, he presided over Westernization Tongzhi for six years (1867), and set up a shipyard in Jiangnan General Manufacturing Bureau to trial-produce ships. At the same time, it is planned to establish a translation library. In May, together with Li Hongzhang, the General Administration of Jiangnan Manufacturing was moved from Hongkou to Gaochang Hall, and the scope of land acquisition was expanded and laws and regulations were greatly increased.
In June, it was awarded the Tijen University Pavilion. In April of the seventh year of Tongzhi (1868), he was awarded a bachelor's degree in Wuyingdian. On May 3 1, I went to Shanghai to inspect Jiangnan Manufacturing General Administration. In August, he was ordered to be transferred to the governor of Zhili. In September, the first ship trial-produced by Jiangnan Shipyard sailed for Jiangning, and once boarded the ship for trial flight, it was named "Tianji". In February 65438, Zeng Guofan arrived in Beijing to meet Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Tongzhi. In the seventh year of Tongzhi in Tianjin (1868), Zeng Guofan was appointed as the governor of Zhili. Zeng Guofan was ordered to go to Tianjin to handle the religious plan in Tianjin. Considering the situation at that time, he didn't go to war with France. However, Hebei draws lots quickly, and one of the crimes of not courting is not. At the request of France, it was decided to finally execute 8 criminals and exile 25 people, and sent Zhang Guangzao, the magistrate of Tianjin, and Liu Jie, the magistrate of a county, to Heilongjiang to compensate foreigners for the loss of 462,000 silver, and Chonghou sent a mission to France. As a result of this negotiation, people in the imperial court and public opinion were very dissatisfied, and the books and posts in the provincial library were destroyed. Zeng Guofan knew the benefits of peace and war. He took the blame and got Ding Richang's sympathy. Zeng Guofan was blamed and his illness worsened, so he called Li Hongzhang to handle the case. In eight years (1870), Ma Xinyi, the governor of Liangjiang, was assassinated by Wenxiang Zhang, a civilian, and the court ordered Zeng Guofan to be the governor of Liangjiang again and go to Nanjing to hear the case. Ten years of Tongzhi (187 1 year), and in August of 19, Li Hongzhang will jointly play "The First Discount of Studying Abroad".
In September, inspect the defense and training of amphibious battalion. 1 1 month arrived in Shanghai. On February 27th, 11th year of Tongzhi (1872), Zeng Guofan led the performance and urged the implementation of "sending overseas students" as soon as possible. He also proposed to set up an "Office for Overseas Students from China" in the United States, and recommended Chen Lanbin and Yung Wing as the chairman and vice-chairman to be permanently managed in the United States. Set up the Overseas Education Bureau for Children in Shanghai, and recommend Liu Hanqing's Selected Works of Shanghai Bureau. From then on, Zeng Guofan's feet were numb and his tongue could not speak. On the fourth day of February in the same year (1872, March 12), Zeng Guofan was walking in Nanjing West Park in the afternoon, and suddenly his feet were numb. Ceng Jize helped him back to the study, sat for three minutes and died. People cry in alleys and paint statues to worship them. The court heard the news and stopped for three days. A posthumous gift was given to Tai Fu and posthumous title "Zheng Wen", and Zhao Zhong Memorial Hall and Xianliang Hall were set up, and special temples were set up in all provinces. On June 25th, the coffin arrived in Changsha. /kloc-buried in jinpenling outside the south gate of Changsha in July, 0/9. In the 12th year of Tongzhi (1873)65438+ February 65438+ March, he was reburied in Fulongshan, Pingtang, Xiangxi, Huashan County (now Wangcheng District). Buried with his wife Ouyang. Zeng Guofan's main political achievements Zeng Guofan, as a famous politician in modern times, was indifferent to the corruption and decline of the Qing Dynasty after the "prosperous period of Kang Gan". He said: "The country is poor, but people are distracted, which is very serious." As for "scholar-officials are used to being worried and accommodating", "prosperous times are neither white nor black, neither painful nor itchy" nor "hating secondary bones". He believes that "the bad governance of officials is all caused by group curtains, and it is sincere to seek officials to eliminate the disadvantages of curtains."
Based on this, Zeng Guofan put forward that "the administration should get the people first", and those who need both morality and tools in times of crisis should advocate honesty, respect benevolent government, oppose tyranny and disturb the people, and must severely punish those officials who take bribes and pervert the law and enrich themselves. As for the financial and economic relationship between the national movement and people's livelihood, Zeng Guofan believes that the way to manage money lies in making full use of the surplus and deficiency, being down-to-earth and being honest and honest. "Gradually seeking rectification is not seeking quick results." Zeng Guofan mentioned agriculture as the basic strategic position of the national economy. He believes that "people's livelihood comes first, and the national economy takes good years as credit." He demanded that "in today's counties, emphasizing agriculture is the first priority." Influenced by the two Opium Wars, Zeng Guofan had his own views on the diplomatic relations between China and the West. On the one hand, he hated the westerners' invasion of China, and thought that others should not be allowed to snore and sleep beside his bed, so he turned against his teacher to help him suppress it. He was deeply ashamed of using foreign countries. "On the other hand, he does not blindly exclude foreigners and advocates learning advanced science and technology from the West. As he said, buying foreign cultural relics &; Hellip& amphellip interviews thoughtful and smart people, starting with exercises and then trying to build them, which can restrain the entanglement of hair and be diligent and far-sighted. Military Zeng Guofan advocated loyalty to the monarch, defending morality and running the army with Confucianism, and this purpose was also implemented in selecting generals, recruiting soldiers, running the army and coordinating internal and external relations. Zeng Guofan's military thought is extremely rich in connotation. He believes that there are not many soldiers but good ones, and "serenades are strong". "The more soldiers, the weaker their strength; The more reimbursement, the poorer the country. "
Advocate the separation of military and political affairs and take responsibility. He bought foreign guns, cannons and ships, which promoted the modernization of China's military weapons. Zeng Guofan regarded the election of generals as the top priority in running the army. He said: "The way to March is to choose the generals first." His selection criteria are both ability and political integrity, wisdom and courage, putting morality first and summarizing its connotation as "loyalty, righteousness and blood". He put forward that "the brave should seek the blood of our party, have loyal people, and be the secret of the virtuous, and collude with them." He also said, "A courageous person must first be able to govern the people, second be not afraid of death, third be indifferent to fame and fortune, and fourth be able to bear hardships and stand hard work." "If you are loyal and bloody, you will agree with each other. Disloyal and bloodless, just like those four, unreliable. " Zeng Guofan believes that "loyal and bloody" generals should mainly be selected from Confucian scholars who are not only influenced by feudal ethics, but also have less bad habits in officialdom. According to Luo Ergang's statistics in the Xiang army system, among 179 Xiang generals whose names, places of origin, origins and positions can be checked, 104 were Confucian scholars, accounting for 58%. It is rare to have so many Confucian scholars as generals in the military history of past dynasties. It was also Zeng Guofan's first move to establish the Xiang army and reform the world military system in the Qing Dynasty into a recruitment system. He said, "I have hated the habit of military camp for several years. No one is self-defense." So it was decided that there was no need to camp soldiers or towns. "So when he formed the Xiang army, he advocated recruiting soldiers in the countryside, not citizens. Its original intention is that the soldiers recruited in the countryside are simple and robust, which is conducive to instilling feudal loyalty and morality and adapting to the harsh and cruel war environment.
Zeng Guofan also stipulated that "to recruit soldiers and brave soldiers, we must take Jie Bao and make a list of prefectures, counties, families, parents, brothers and sisters, wives and skipped names. "Every knot is attached to the book for inspection." Anyone who has no insurance will not be admitted. Zeng Guofan's practice completely inherited Qi Jiguang's thought of recruiting soldiers in the late Ming Dynasty. Zeng Guofan also changed in compiling green camp. The establishment of the Xiang army takes the battalion as the basic combat unit, with posts below the battalion. Below the post, the land division is a team, the navy division is a ship, and the cavalry team is a shed. In the early days of Xiang Army, there were no officials above battalion level, and all battalions were under the jurisdiction of Zeng Guofan. After that, the number of battalions increased, which is called "command division system". Zeng Guofan asked the army to be formed according to the principle of pro-election, self-defense and self-control, and gradually increased the number of candidates, which changed the disadvantage of green camp that "soldiers don't know each other, and soldiers don't learn from each other", but it also clearly exposed the intention of building a private army of 1 1, which started the precedent of "soldiers will have them" in modern China, and warlords rallied their troops. Zeng Guofan took great pains in the general plan of running the army, and advocated running the army with Confucianism, that is, educating officers and men with feudal ethics and training officers and men with benevolence, courtesy and loyalty as the foundation of running the army. His purpose is to maintain the morale of the army and cultivate a private army that is completely and absolutely subordinate to himself. Therefore, he believes that "those who use troops must be independent first, and then make enemies." Zeng Guofan's military thought has influenced several generations, not to mention that his contemporary Xiang and Huai generals all took Zeng Guofan as a model. Later, bourgeois militarists such as Huang Xing and Cai E also praised Zeng Guofan's general plan of running the army. When Zhang Zhidong and Yuan Shikai used western methods to train the new army after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, they adopted many practices of Zeng Guofan in running the army.
Jiang Fangzhen, a strategist of the Republic of China, praised Zeng Guofan as a "military genius" in modern history in On National Defense, and said that all leaders should follow Zeng Guofan's example. Chiang Kai-shek made it clear that he wanted to learn from Zeng Guofan and asked the generals in the Kuomintang army to "recognize history clearly and imitate Zeng Hu". Zeng Guofan paid the most attention to spiritual education in running the army, and * * paid great attention to this all his life. Zeng Guofan's "loving the people is the first priority in running the army", * * * formulated "three major disciplines and eight attentions" at the beginning of the establishment of the Red Army. Cultural Literature Zeng Guofan inherited the independent style of Tongcheng School Fang Bao and Yao Nai, and founded the "Xiangxiang School" in the late Qing Dynasty, which is an important representative of Huxiang culture. He talks about ancient Chinese, speaks in a sonorous tone, and tries his best with inexhaustible packages; Ancient prose is profound and magnificent, which can convey the breath of Han Fu, so it has a magnificent artistic conception and can get rid of the disadvantages of Tongcheng School, which is praised by future generations. The Zeng family had a patriarchal clan system in Tongcheng, but it changed and developed a little. As a model of the text, 12 was compiled, which is not controlled by Tongcheng and is called Xiangxiang School in the world. Yan Fu, Lin Shu, Tan Sitong and Liang Qichao were all influenced by his writing style in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. He is the author of Quezhai Anthology, poems, reading records, diaries, memorials, family letters, family instructions, hundreds of miscellaneous notes on classics and history, and 18 poems. No less than 100 volumes, known as the Complete Works of Zeng, spread all over the world. He also wrote books such as The Way of Learning and Five Proverbs. Zeng Guofan pursued Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism all his life, but he did not blindly worship Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism. In fact, he also borrowed from other schools of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties.
Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties is actually divided into three academic schools: Qi, Neo-Confucianism and Mind. In his political practice and military struggle, Zeng Guofan gradually saw the limitations of Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism, such as "teaching by words", "illness" or "quietness". In this case, Zeng Guofan showed a tolerant academic attitude towards the theory of mind. As for the academic debate between Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism and Wang Lu's Neo-Confucianism, he thinks that we should learn from their similarities, avoid their differences, promote their strengths, absorb and store them, foster strengths and avoid weaknesses, and promote the development of Confucianism. Zeng Guofan also made up for the limitations of Neo-Confucianism by using the resources of Qi in the theory of generation, and thought that "Zhengmeng is sincere and very modest". According to the thought of Qi, Zeng Guofan believed that everything in the world was born of inner Qi, and Qi was the ultimate element that constituted everything in the world. In this sense, everything in the world is the same. However, Zeng Guofan also believes that although the spirit of Taihe is popular and the spirit of all things in the world is the first to listen, people and things, saints and ordinary people are not the same. As far as people and things are concerned, people are full of gas, but things are only partial; An old friend is intellectual, but things are only physical. As far as human beings are concerned, the spirit of saints is clear and thick, while the spirit of ordinary people is turbid and thin. Calligraphy Zeng Guofan's outstanding achievements in calligraphy were concealed by his great influence in history. Zeng Guofan's exposition of calligraphy theory can be found in his diary, letters from home and this article. First of all, he had a unique understanding of the theory of the North-South School of Calligraphy thrown by Ruan Yuan at that time. He approved and criticized it, and advocated both North and South.
Regarding the origin of calligraphy, he put forward the theory of "Gankun Dayuan". From the main road; ; Masculine beauty; ; Focus; ; Xiong Qi; ; Atmosphere, from Kun Dao; ; Feminine; ; Out of focus; ; Far away; ; Rhyme wins, forming his systematic view of calligraphy theory. Zeng Guofan has been diligent in calligraphy creation all his life, and has gone through a tortuous exploration road from extensive to professional, from inheriting classicism to innovating fashion. His diary is nearly 6.5438+0.3 million words, which is a rare giant calligraphy work in ancient China. His regular script is vigorous and powerful, and it has erected a formal calligraphy banner that inherits the Tang, Song and Ming Dynasties and combines rigidity with softness. His running script is vigorous, handsome and gorgeous. His small script and running script are models of the whole Qing Dynasty. He should be as famous as his contemporary Bao He. 14